diff --git a/Makefile.local b/Makefile.local
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5c7e3a5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.local
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# run only tests that do not require database setup
+test-nodb:
+	$(NOSE) $(NOSEFLAGS) -a '!db'
+
+# run only tests that do require database setup
+test-db:
+	$(NOSE) $(NOSEFLAGS) -a 'db'
diff --git a/README.db_testing b/README.db_testing
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01701ce3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.db_testing
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Running database-related tests
+==============================
+
+Python tests for this module include tests that cannot be run without a local
+Postgres database. You are not obliged to run those tests though:
+
+- `make test`:      will run all tests
+- `make test-nodb`: will run only tests that do not need a local DB
+- `make test-db`:   will run only tests that do need a local DB
+
+If you do want to run DB-related tests, you should:
+
+- ensure that your user is authorized to create and drop DBs, and in particular
+  DBs named "softwareheritage-test" and "softwareheritage-dev"
+
+- run `make -C sql/ dumpdb` from the top-level dir of this module to ensure you
+  have the local dump that is loaded for testing purposes